God’s will in four words?
Nov 23, 2011
The Race for Grace - part twenty-four in a study of the book of Galatians
By Mike Gaudet
God’s will in four words?
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” Galatians 6:2-5
The B.C. version of the will of God is expressed by ten commandments.
The A.D. version is expressed by four words . . .”Carry each other’s burdens.” On this side of the cross, obeying God means lifting the loads of others.
The religious leaders in Jesus’ day measured devotion to God by imposing loads of religious obligations and determining how well individuals bore up under the weight. Jesus rejected this misrepresentation of spirituality. “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Matthew 23:1-4
Jesus revealed that God lifts burdens . . . He doesn’t leave them in place. In undisguised conflict with the sacred leaders of His day, Jesus countered, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30
In Jesus day, a “yoke” represented the weight of the requirements a disciple had to bear in order to prove himself a devoted follower. Jesus characterized His yoke as “easy.” While the burden the “teachers of the law and the Pharisees” imposed on their followers was “heavy,” Jesus indicated that the burden His followers bear is “light.”
The man or woman who represents God’s will as “burdensome” is reflecting the viewpoint of the “world.” God’s “commands are not burdensome” . . . it is the “world” that says otherwise. “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:3-4
The religious leader who consistently places heavy religious obligations on people’s shoulders speaks on behalf of the world and not on behalf of Jesus.
The follower who dons this yoke will be too weighed down to ease someone else’s burden and will likely end up “comparing himself to somebody else.” When we are weighed down spiritually it makes us feel lighter to observe that “we” don’t do the things “they” do. Instead of seeking relief in unfavorable comparison with others each one of us is encouraged to “test his own actions” and to “carry his own load.” When we use comparison to lighten our own load, we cannot bear the load of others.
The pace of life is another reason why we fail to “fulfill the law of Christ.”
In 1970 two psychologists conducted an experiment inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan. They set out to determine why individuals help others in need or fail to do so.
In the biblical parable, thieves beat and rob a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, leaving him naked and half dead by the side of the road. A priest passes by as does a Levite, a layperson. Both cross the road rather than help the wounded traveler. Then a Samaritan--in those days a religious outcast--comes upon the scene, applies balm and bandages to the victim's wounds, loads him on a donkey, brings him to an inn, nurses him through the night, and the following morning leaves money with the innkeeper for the traveler's continued care.
Students from Princeton Theological Seminary were used in the experiment. In individual sessions, half the students were given a copy of the parable of the Good Samaritan and told they would be required to deliver a sermon on the subject in a few minutes. The other half were told they would be talking about employment prospects for seminary students. All subjects were told to report to an office in another building to deliver their talks; some were told that they should hurry because people were waiting for them, while others were led to believe that they had more time to get there.
On the way to the test site, each student passed a poorly dressed figure slumped in a doorway, head down, eyes closed, not moving, a man described by the two psychologists as an ambiguous figure, possibly in need of help, possibly drunk, possibly dangerous--a situation not unlike the one that occurred on the road to Jericho, except that in this case the ambiguous figure was clothed. As the subject passed, the man coughed twice and groaned.
Sixty percent of the seminarians walked on without offering help. A seminarian thinking about the parable was no more likely to stop than one given a less lofty topic. On several occasions a seminarian going to talk about the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the man. Only 10 percent of those who were told to rush to the test site offered help, while 63 percent of those who thought they had time to spare offered aid.
Being in too much of a hurry can keep us from bearing each other’s burdens. As the speed of daily life increases, the likelihood that we will carry another’s burdens decreases.
Jesus issues this invitation to we who feel “wearied” and “hurried,” “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
God lightens our load and gives us rest so that we can “fulfill the law of Christ.”